First aid training at work
Under Safe Work Australia’s model Code of Practice, a workplace first aider should hold, as a minimum, a nationally recognised Statement of Attainment for the unit Provide First Aid or an equivalent course, refresh CPR every year and renew the qualification every three years.
Those are the Code’s recommendations. The duty itself, as the Code sets it out, is to make sure enough workers are trained in first aid, or that workers can reach enough other people who are.
- Filed under
- Model Code · NSW · TAS · VIC · SA
- Checked
- 8 October 2026
General information, not medical or legal advice. Call Triple Zero (000) in an emergency, or go to the emergency department of your nearest hospital. Check the code for your own state or territory; Safe Work Australia publishes the national model.
The Code and the duty
The model Code’s foreword calls it an approved code of practice, made under section 274 of the Work Health and Safety Act, and says it applies to every kind of work and workplace the Act covers. Safe Work Australia’s page for the model Code says to check with your local regulator whether it has legal effect where you are. The state codes are compared below.
Its training lines use the word “should”. The duty they serve uses “must”: a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must make sure there are enough trained people. Safe Work Australia’s page on construction duties puts it plainly: “All workplaces, including workplaces in the construction industry, must have access to first aid.” It goes on: “You must provide access to:”
- “At least one first aid kit”
- “First aid facilities, and”
- “Trained first aid people (first aiders).”
Codes compared
| Document | Minimum training | Refresher | First aiders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model Code of Practice, Safe Work Australia (national model) | A Statement of Attainment for Provide First Aid from an RTO, or an equivalent course | CPR every year; qualification renewed every three years | One for every 50 workers (low risk), 25 (high risk), 10 (remote, high risk) |
| SafeWork NSW code (New South Wales) | The same as the model Code | The same two figures | The same three ratios |
| WorkSafe Tasmania code (Tasmania) | The same as the model Code | The same, regular training included | The same three ratios |
| WorkSafe Victoria compliance code (Victoria) | Employers need to make sure first aid officers hold Provide First Aid, or equivalent, as a minimum | Kept current; CPR every year, renewal every three years | Where possible, at least one first aid officer available at any time the workplace operates |
| SafeWork SA page (South Australia) | A nationally accredited course, or equivalent training that gave the capabilities needed | The page asks employers and first aiders to familiarise themselves with the Code of Practice | One for every 25 workers in a high-risk workplace, 50 in a low-risk one |
Queensland has its own approved code, published by WorkSafe Queensland. Western Australia, the ACT and the Northern Territory are not set out here: check the regulator in your state or territory.
Other points in the codes
First aider and first aid officer
Victoria’s code speaks of a first aid officer: someone with appropriate training, kept current, whom the employer has nominated for the role. Tasmania’s glossary defines a first aider as someone who has completed a nationally accredited course, or training at an equivalent level, that gave them the competencies needed to give first aid.
Remote and isolated work
New South Wales’s code says extra arrangements may be needed for workers in remote or isolated areas; where travel time, poor roads or weather make access difficult, it says arrangements should include aerial evacuation.
Cost
SafeWork SA’s page says giving workers access to first aid, and providing it, must cost neither the workers nor the first aiders anything.
Vaccination
Victoria’s code says that where there is a risk of vaccine-preventable disease, first aid officers need to be offered vaccination in line with the Australian immunisation handbook.
First aider numbers
SafeWork SA names factors that change the answer, among them the size of the workforce, the location, and the risks of the work. Safe Work Australia’s construction page adds: “A risk assessment will help you work out your first aid needs, like equipment, facilities and training.” “It is important to consult your workers on your risk assessment and review it regularly.” “The model Code of Practice: First aid in the workplace has a sample risk assessment.”
For how long the training stays current, see Entry 02; for the unit itself, Entry 01.